I'm glad what I shared from Beth Moore's Pre-Conference material spoke to your hearts. In addition to talking about how our Was can cheat our Is (regrets and grudges), Beth discussed how our Is can cheat our Is To Come by way of fear and anxiety.
It seems so common for me to be anxious about things, wondering what's going to happen, will I be able to handle it? Until I heard Beth talk about anxiety I hadn't truly considered how it was impacting me. Here's what she said: Anxiety is a continual simmering of unbelief. It leaves us unguarded because it shows we are not in authority in that matter, and it shows the enemy we aren't trusting God. She said anxiety makes reasonable people unreasonable because it causes us to panic and make knee-jerk decisions.
This next statement really got me. Beth reminded us anxiety draws on human strength alone, because God will never help us worry. Think about it. We are the ones doing all the worrying. Would you ever pray something like, O God, this worrying really has me worn out. I need Your help to worry more. Please give me the strength to fret over this situation some more. Maybe You're big enough to handle this situation, but I'm just not sure. Granted, You created the universe and have somehow managed to hold it all in perfect balance since the beginning of time, but this situation I'm facing is so huge, and I just don't know if You can take care of it. So please, I'm begging You, give me the strength I need to simmer in this unbelief a little longer.
Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? When Beth defined anxiety as she did, and when she made the statement God will never help us worry, I thought, Duh! Why do I ever allow myself to be anxious for anything???
God has promised our Is To Come is going to be wonderful. Why allow fear and anxiety to cheat us?
I wrote one other statement from Beth in my notes which I want to share with you. It deals with fear, and I'll write about it next time.
VBS is going well. Day Two is always smoother than Day One. Whew!
I am working with fifth grade girls and am loving it. Today we gathered in a large circle (there are about 32-36 girls in my class) to pray at the end, and I talked to the girls about God's incredible love for them. They are so precious in His eyes and my heart's desire is for them to grasp that reality through this week.
I'll check back in with more from Beth in a day or two!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Beth on Anxiety
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3 comments:
Thank you for posting that! It does seem so stupid on our part when we put our anxiety in light of truth! I need that to stick in my head today.
I'm glad VBS is going better. I'm finding girls at that age definitely need to know that God loves them, no matter how they are judged by their peers. They are wonderfully made, and He didn't make any mistake in them!! They need to hear it over and over and over before it begins to get through! My JV girls need to hear it, too, and I say it over and over to them. Maybe by this time next year, they'll have it in their spirit!
I was going through a deep time of being robbed by worry and anxiety in 2006 and during a study found the following "The origins of the word Worry, come from an Old High German Word WURGEN which means both 'to strangle' and 'to choke'. The Greek root merimnao used in most NT references means 'to divide' (meirzo) and ('nous') 'mind' - so what do we get? A divided mind.
This morning I thought again about this root meaning of worry, and I read in a study that the root meaning is also likened to Wolves when they 'worried' the sheep. Literally strangling them with their teeth, getting hold of their necks.
The Enemy is out to devour and destroy, and we know the battle is over the mind. We are the sheep that he tries to 'worry'.
Claire in her blog (http://fireballclairechristian3316.blogspot.com/) talked of Is 40:11 a while back which talks of the Lord holding us his sheep in his hands. He tends his flocks and gathers his lambs."
Your posts are so appreciated Karen!
My oldest is sick at the moment, poor fellow, but God has been an awesome helper. A friend took my daughter swimming for me this morning so that she didn't miss out, and my christian neighbour (unknowing of my son being ill) asked if she could have my daughter over to play with her wee girl. What a blessing - Father just knows and my daughter the sanguine socialite is sooo happy.
I have always thought if I worry I am doubting God.
Thanks for sharing this. Sounds like a wonderful conference full of great information.
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